The scorching heat will give way to more seasonable temperatures starting Sunday, according to the National Weather Service.
This is an updated version of a story posted at 4:25 this afternoon.
Madeleine Fordham (in yellow) goes to dunk the birthday girl, Amalia Butler, at her birthday party held at Puffer's Pond in Amherst on Saturday.CHICOPEE - As the mercury approached 100 on Saturday afternoon, Chicopee firefighters battled an attic fire at 841 Prospect St., spotted by a passerby who saw smoke and flames shooting out of the single-family home’s back window.
“It was brutal . . . It was a hot one today,” Acting Deputy Fire Chief William J. Lemay said.
No one was injured, but an ambulance was called to the scene in case any of the 14 firefighters overheated.
Lemay said the fire, reported just before 4 p.m., was contained to the attic, and extinguished within 15 minutes. The cause is still under investigation. The fire at the two-story home caused approximately $10,000 in damage and displaced the three residents.
“We’re going to keep a truck there until 8 or 9 (Saturday night) for a fire watch,” Lemay said.
Lemay said the passerby knocked on the door to alert the three residents to the fire. Shortly after, someone else came running over and started knocking on the doors too. The home is owned by Brian Kolodeji of West Springfield.
The oppressive heat of the past week is expected to break on Sunday, as temperatures should only reach the mid-80s, a 10-degree difference from Saturday, according to William T. Babcock, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service.
“People will notice the difference. Also, the air will be a little less humid and will add to the increase in comfort,” Babcock said.
Saturday’s high at Bradley International Airport in Windsor Locks was 98, just one degree shy of the record 99 set in 1978, Babcock said. The past week has been a scorcher - the high Friday was 103; Thursday’s was 98; Wednesday’s was 92; Tuesday’s, 91; Monday’s, 89; and July 17’s, 93.
More temperate weather should roll in this coming week, with seasonable temperatures in the 80s each day, Babcock said. Monday may only reach in the upper 70s, he added.
Cooling centers were open around the region on Saturday to give people a respite from the heat.
In Palmer, Emergency Management Director Donald C. Elliott asked Senior Center Director Erin Pincince to open the Senior Center on Central Street for residents. Pincince said only six people showed up, and they spent the time playing card games such as pitch and cribbage. Pincince said someone came in because they wanted to turn off their own air conditioner for a while to save on electricity costs.
Mary G.S. Hubert, 89, said she was happy the Senior Center opened, as she doesn’t have air conditioning at home.
“This is so much better,” Hubert said.
The Mason Square Senior Center in Springfield also had just a half-dozen visitors by 4 p.m. That center also is usually closed on Saturdays.
Alexandria Martin was manning the Mason Square Senior Center, reporting that the few people who came in watched television. Olander Worthy, 62, of Indian Orchard, dropped in because he was in the neighborhood to get a haircut.
“I was pleasantly surprised to see the door unlocked,” said Worthy, who sometimes leads an exercise class for the seniors there using hula hoops that he makes and ribbons.
Worthy said he doesn’t have air conditioning at home, and his wife told them they must be the only people in New England without it. He said she was spending the afternoon studying in the air-conditioned library at Western New England College.
“It’s quite oppressive out there,” Worthy said. “I actually enjoy the heat. I guess I remember January and February, so I’m not complaining. I’m trying to enjoy it.”